Valve.



D. T. McCARTHY.

VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED mm. 12. 19x4.

1,149,527. Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

7 WITNESSES.- IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEYS. I

COLUIIIA WWI! 60.,IIASMINOIW, D. c.

STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL '1. MCCARTHY, (1F MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT.

VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 10; 1915.

Application filed March 12, 1914. Serial No. 824,134.

construction, including a latch forretainingthe valve proper in its open position, all as hereinafter set forth.

Much difiiculty has heretofore been experienced with valves'ofthis class or for this purpose, owing to the fact that they very soon leak, such defect being due to various causes, such as wear, the action of the hot water which such valves are used tocontrol, thelodgment ofyforeign substances on the valve-seats between the latter and the valves proper, and faulty valve construction generally. a,

The primary object, therefore, of my 1nvention is to produce a simple but strong and durable valve which, while being capable ofquick and easy operation, is not liable to leak when closed, even after a long period of use, such valve being of the all-metal, gravity, self-seating type that requires little or no attentiomand seldom needs repairing.

Further objects are to provide such a valve with a seal to prevent leakage around the valve-stem atthe place where such stem emerges from its tubular guide or support,

and with a convenient latch for holding the valve open. 1

These and other. objects andradvantages I attain and secure by the means illustrated in the. accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section through a valve which embodies a practical form of my invention, the valve being shown closed infulllines and open by dottedlines; Fig. 2, a top plan of the valve-seat casing; Fig. 3, a view showing a slightly modified form of seal; Fig. 4, a similar view of another modification of the seal, and, Fig. 5, a view of still another modification.

Similar numerals designate similar parts throughout the several views.

In the first view one corner of a washer is represented at 1, and connected with this,

The pipe 4 opens through an extension 6 on one side of the casing 5, and said casing opens'at the bottom through a valve-seat 7 with which the casing is provided in the interior at the base. A disk valve 8, of usual and well-known construction, is provided for the valve-seat 7, and a plurality of tapering or wedge-shaped guides 9 isprovided in the casing 1 for said valve. There may be four, more or less, of the guides 9, and they are located within the casing l on the side wall or walls thereof, and each has its widest part at the base, which is on the valve-seat 7, and from there tapers to practically nothing at the top, where the inner face of the guide coincides with the inside surface of said casing. The inner edges of the bases of the guides 9 coincide with the outer circumference of the valve-seat 7, or with a circle the diameter of which is the same as that of the valve 8. Thus it will be seen that the valve 8 in descending is positively and accurately directed to its seat by exterior means consisting of the guides 9.

The valve-seat 7 forms the lowest interior part of the casing 1, and such seat has no upward projections, wherefore no opportunity is afforded for any sediment or foreign substance, or any article such as a pin or button, to collect or lodge in the bottom of said casing or on said seat, and by its presence prevent the valve from closing tightly.

The top of the casing 1 is closed by means of a screw-plug 10.

Screwed at the base tightly and securely into the center of the screw-plug 10 is a tubular support and guide 11 for a valvestem 12, the middle portions of both tube and stem being broken out, in Fig. 1. The axial centers of the valve-seat 7 and valvestem guide and support 11 are in line with each other. The valve-stem 12 is designed to slide freely in the guide and support 11 and extends above and below the same. The valve 8 is attached to the inner or bottom end of the stem 12.

The means of attachment or connection between the valve 8 and its stem 12 should be of such a nature as to leave said valve free to an extent suflicient to enable the same always to seat itself fully and properly, especially in the event of wear or in case said seat is not absolutely level, and to this end some form of universal or flexible joint is preferably provided. In this case the valve-stem 12 has a spherical base 13 with an annular groove 14 above, this base 1s received 1n an opening 15 made in a hub 16 on said valve, and two screws 17, V

Thusample provision is made for a rocking motion of the valve relative to its stem, and for said valve to rotate on said stem.

Since the valve 8 closes by gravity, or by its own weight and that of the attached and connectechparts and members, as .will be clearly understood, and the valve-stem 12 can have at the most only a loose fit in the tube 11, and may be much smaller in diameter than the interior of said tube, hot water and steam from the washer 1 would escape from the upper end of said tube, around said valve-stem, when the valve 8 is closed, in the absence of some means to close or'seal such end at such time. I therefore provide the valve-stem 12 with a disk or plate which constitutes a seal 18 for the tube 11;

The seal 18 may be made fiat onthe' underside to rest or bear on the upper edgeof the tube 11, as shown in Fig. 1, or it may be made in various'other ways, examples of which are illustrated in Figs. 3, 4: and 5.

In Fig. 8 the seal 18 has a conical bottom piece 19 to fit a'conical seat 20 formed at the topoi the tube 11; while in Fig. 4: the seal is provided with a depending flange 21 which,-with thehori'zontal portion of said last-mentioned seal, incloses the upper terminal of the tube, around the valve-stem 12, when the seal is closed. The seal 18, shown in the last View, has an annular groove 22 in the underside, into which groove is received the upper edge of the tube 11, when said seal is closed; In this last case the upper terminal of the tube 11 is chambered, as shown at 23, unless the diameter of the valve-stem 12 is very much less than that of the interior of said tube.

The seal 18, whatever its particular formation may be, must be so located on the valvestem 12 that, when the valve 8 is closed, said seal is also closed, or, in other words, said seal thenbears on the top of the tube 11 and so prevents leakage or the escape of water or steam at that point. The upper terminal portion of the valve-stem 12,-therefore, is screw-threaded to receive the seal 18, which latter is also screw-threaded on the inside, and to receive a set-nut 241. The seal 18 is first properly adjusted on the threaded portion of the valve-stem'12, and then the set-nut 24 is screwed down tightly onto said seal to prevent the latter from working loose.

fadj'a'cent side of the tube 11'.

latch 26, which has a projection at the top to form a handle 27, and an inwardly-exvtending member or nose 28 at the lower end to engage the upper end of the tube 11, when the parts are elevated, and retain them in that position. The handle 27 affords convenient means for operating the valve 8 and thelatch 26, Y

' Normally the parts stand as shown b full lines in Fig. 1,'with the valve-seat 7 c'losedby the valve 8, and the tube 11 at its inoperative, its nose 28 resting against the No'leakage from the dischargeien'd of the washer *1 is now ossib'le;

W en it is desired to empty the washer 1, the handle 27 is grasped and by means of the same the valve-stem 12, to which said handle or the latch of which said handle form'sa part is pivoted, is elevated and the h valve Slifted from the seat 7. After carrythe'latch 26 high enough to enable the nose 28 to clear thetop of the tube 11, said latch issw'ung on the pivot '25,'by means of the handle 27 which isstill in the grasp of the operator, to position said nose above said tube, and then the parts are permitted to descend until said nose bears on the tube, if necessary, and said handle is released.

upperend closed by the seal 18. l/Vith the movable parts thus disposed the latch26 is The nose 28iof'the latch26 is thus left rest' tube 11, at the time the valve 8' is opened,

and retained withsa'idvalve in inoperative or open position, but this has'no significance and produces no'efl'ect, because the liquid 1 flows down through the valve-seat 7 without any tendency to rise int'o said-tube'around said stem-and escape in that way, owing to the large exit below and the comparatively After all 'of the water has small exit above. escaped from the washer 1, and before more water is turned-into said washer, the valve 8 and the seal 18'are closed, by'again grasping the handle 27, rocking the latch 26 outremove the nose 28 fromits position on and above thetu'be 11, andpermitting said stem wjith the partscarried therebyto descend.

The outlet'from thewasher 1 is now closed and so remains until thevalve-opening operations are repeated:-

'wardly or away from the valve-stem 12 to V More or less change in the shape, size, arrangement and construction of other parts of the valve, besides those previously pointed out in connection with the seal, may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a valve, of the class described, a casing having a valve-seat therein, a valve for such seat, a stem for such valve, a supporting and guiding member for such stem, and an angular latch pivotally attached to said stem and having a part that is adapted to be actuated into engagement with said member, when said stem is elevated, to retain said stem with said valve in elevated position.

2. In a valve, of the class described, a casing having a valve-seat therein, a valve for such seat, a tubular member rising from said casing, a stem for said valve, such stem operating through and loosely fitting said member, a seal carried by said stem for said member and adapted to fit directly onto and close completely the upper end of said tube around said stem, and an angular latch pivotally attached to said stem, said latch having a part that is capable of being actuated into engagement with said member, when said stem is elevated, to retain said stem with said valve in elevated position.

3. The combination, in a valve, of the class described, with a casing having a valveseat therein, and a tube rising from said casing and of smaller diameter than the latter, of a valve for said seat, a valve stem extending through and loosely fitting said tube, a flexible joint between said valve and stem, and a seal adjustably mounted on said stem for the upper end of said tube, when said stem is down and said valve closed, said seal bein adapted to fit directly onto and complete y close said upper end of said tube around said stem.

4. The combination, in a valve, of the class described, with a casing having therein a valve-seat, and a tube rising from said casing, of a valve for said seat, a stem extending through said tube for said valve, and an angular latch pivotally attached to said stem and having a part that is adapted to be actuated into engagement with said tube, when said stem is elevated, and to retain said stem with said valve in elevated position.

5. The combination, in a valve, of the class described, with a casing having a valveseat, and a tube rising from said casing, of a valve for said seat, a stem extending through said tube for said valve, and a latch pivotally attached to said stem and having a tube-engaging part and a handle.

DANIEL T. MCCARTHY. Witnesses JOHN E. MCCARTHY, J. P. MCCARTHY.

copies otlthil patent my be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0. 

